Golf club and putter stand

ABSTRACT

A golf club stand of unitary construction having a snap on open collar and two supporting legs that downwardly and outwardly extend away from the open collar in a mirrored configuration. Each supporting leg ends in feet that rest on a supporting surface, such as anyplace along a golf course, so that when a shaft of a golf club is snapped into the open collar, the golf club stands in a upright orientation with the support of the feet, making the golf club highly visible.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. provisionalapplication No. 62/884,030, filed 7 Aug. 2019, the contents of which areherein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to golfing accessories and, moreparticularly, a golf club stand of unitary construction, wherein thegolf club stand snaps on to the shaft of the club for propping the golfclub up on a supporting surface, such as along any surface of the golfcourse, in an upright position, thereby making the retained golf clubhighly visible.

Leaving golf clubs behind on the golf course is an annoyance manygolfers have had to endure. Currently, golf club stands do not work wellwhen the ground gets hard, and they cannot be used on the greens sincethey purposefully leave marks or indentations in their supportingsurface.

As can be seen, there is a need for a golf club stand of unitaryconstruction, wherein the golf club stand snaps on to the shaft of theclub for propping the golf club on a supporting surface by way ofnon-invasive feet in an upright position.

The present is adapted to snap on easily and can be used in anyconditions and anywhere on the golf course so that the golf club ishighly visible in the upright position so as not to be forgotten on thegolf course.

Furthermore, being a unitary condition, the golf club stand embodied bythe present invention is inexpensive and efficient to mass produce.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a golf club/putter standincludes the following: an open collar having an open width defined bytwo curved shoulders; and a supporting leg extending downwardly andoutwardly from each curved shoulder in a mirrored configuration.

In another aspect of the present invention, the golf club/putter standincludes the following: an open collar having an open width defined bytwo curved shoulders, wherein the open width is dimensioned to provide asnap on functionality for a shaft of a golf club; a supporting legextending downwardly and outwardly from each curved shoulder in amirrored configuration; and a foot extends from a distal end of eachsupporting leg, each foot is parallel with the open collar and each footextends away from the other foot, wherein the open collar is at leastsix inches away from each foot, and wherein the open collar, two curvedshoulders, each supporting leg, and each foot is fabricated from asingle material in a unitary construction.

In yet another aspect of the present invention, a method ofmanufacturing a golf club stand from a unitary material, the methodincludes the following: providing the unitary material having both alength-to-width ratio of at least twenty to one, and awidth-to-thickness ratio ranging between three to one to six to one; andforming, by additive manufacture or injection molding, the unitarymaterial into the following: an open collar having an open width definedby two curved shoulders; a supporting leg extending downwardly andoutwardly from each curved shoulder in a mirrored configuration; and afoot extends from a distal end of each supporting leg so that each footis parallel with the open collar and each foot extends away from theother foot.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with reference to the followingdrawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation view of an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention shown in use; and

FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention shown in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplatedmodes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. Thedescription is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merelyfor the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention,since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Broadly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a golf clubstand of unitary construction having a snap on open collar and twosupporting legs in a mirrored configuration. Each supporting leg ends infeet that rest on a supporting surface, such as anyplace along a golfcourse, so that when a golf club is snapped into the open collar, thegolf club stands in a upright orientation with the support of the feet,making the golf club highly visible.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 7, the present invention may includegolf club stand 10 of a unitary construction whereby fabrication wouldrequire but one material formed through injection molding, additivemanufacture, or the like, resulting in an inexpensively mass producedsolution that can be used anywhere on a golf course. It should beunderstood that the golf club 10 could include any golf club in the golfbag—wedge, driver, putter, etc.

The golf club stand 10 may be formed from a member 20 of unitaryconstruction. Unitary construction may include construction through asingle material, including various plasticized materials, metallicmaterials, synthetic materials, or the like. The member 20 is elongated:having a length-to-width ratio of at least twenty to one. The member 20may have a width-to-thickness ratio ranging between three to one to sixto one.

The member 20 forms, in part, an open collar 30 that completes between225 and 300 degrees of a defined lumen. Two supporting legs 40 veeroutward and downward from opposing ends of the opening (or open width)70 defined by the open collar 30, forming a curved shoulder 60 on eachside of said open width 70.

The open width 70 is dimensioned, adapted and determined by a desiredamount of compressibility of the shoulder when loaded with a golf clubshaft 12 or 14. Specifically, the open width 70 provides adequate spacebetween the shoulders 60 so that both shoulders 60 must be urged awayfrom each other by said golf club shaft 12 or 14 in order for the golfclub shaft 12 or 14 to pass into the lumen of the open collar 30, atwhich time the shoulders 60 compress toward one another due to theirresilient, biased nature—effectuating a ‘snap on’ functionality—wherebythe open width 70 moves back to a distance slightly less than a width ofsaid golf club shaft 12 or 14, preventing the golf club shaft 12 or 14from escaping in the absence of external, non-gravitational force.

Two supporting legs 40 veer outward and downward: the outward angle isdefined by a first plane 15 passing through a center of the open collar30, bisecting the open collar 30, wherein the outward angle for each leg40 may be fifteen to thirty degrees relative to the first plane 15. Thedownward angle ranges between forty-five and sixty degrees relative to asecond plane 25 shared by the entirety of open collar 30 and the secondplane 25 being orthogonal to the first plane 15. Each leg 40 ends with afoot 50 extending from a distal end of the leg 40 so that each foot 50is parallel with the second plane 25 and extending away from the otherfoot 50.

A method of using the present invention may include the following. Thegolf club stand 10 disclosed above may be provided. The golf club stand10 snaps easily onto the golf club shaft 12 or 14 to stand the golf clubin an upright position on the golf club's end in conjunction of the twospaced apart feet 50 along a supporting surface, thereby the golf clubis highly visible and will never be left behind.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates toexemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as setforth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A golf club stand comprising: an open collarhaving an open width defined by two curved shoulders; and a supportingleg extending downwardly and outwardly from each curved shoulder in amirrored configuration.
 2. The golf club stand of claim 1, furthercomprising: a foot extends from a distal end of each supporting leg insuch a way that each foot is parallel with the open collar and each footextends away from the other foot.
 3. The golf club stand of claim 2,wherein the open collar, two curved shoulders, each supporting leg, andeach foot is fabricated from a single material in a unitaryconstruction.
 4. The golf club stand of claim 2, wherein the open collaris at least six inches away from each foot.
 5. The golf club stand ofclaim 1, wherein the open width is dimensioned to provide a snap onfunctionality for a shaft of a golf club.
 6. The golf club stand ofclaim 5, wherein the open width is dimensioned in such a way that thetwo curved shoulders are urged away from each when receiving said shaftin the snap on functionality.
 7. The golf club stand of claim 6, whereinthe two curved shoulders are resilient so as to be biased to form theopen width when not urged by an external force.
 8. A golf club standcomprising: an open collar having an open width defined by two curvedshoulders, wherein the open width is dimensioned to provide a snap onfunctionality for a shaft of a golf club; a supporting leg extendingdownwardly and outwardly from each curved shoulder in a mirroredconfiguration; and a foot extends from a distal end of each supportingleg, each foot is parallel with the open collar and each foot extendsaway from the other foot, wherein the open collar is at least six inchesaway from each foot, and wherein the open collar, two curved shoulders,each supporting leg, and each foot is fabricated from a single materialin a unitary construction.
 9. A method of manufacturing a golf clubstand from a unitary material, the method comprising: providing theunitary material having both a length-to-width ratio of at least twentyto one, and a width-to-thickness ratio ranging between three to one tosix to one; and forming, by additive manufacture or injection molding,the unitary material into the following: an open collar having an openwidth defined by two curved shoulders; a supporting leg extendingdownwardly and outwardly from each curved shoulder in a mirroredconfiguration; and a foot extends from a distal end of each supportingleg so that each foot is parallel with the open collar and each footextends away from the other foot.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein theunitary material is a plasticized material.